a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to method and apparatus for automatically stopping engine idling of an automotive vehicle during a stop of the vehicle and, particularly relates to a technique for accurately detecting an operation of a brake pedal or brake manipulator.
b) Description of the Related Art
In order to improve a fuel consumption and to suppress an emission of exhaust gas, a, so-called, idle stop systems which stops automatically the vehicular engine (the engine idling) during the stop of the vehicle such as a situation of the vehicle to wait for a turn of a go signal has been proposed.
A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. Heisel 8-291725 published on Nov. 5, 1996 exemplifies a previously proposed idle stop system in which the engine is automatically stopped in a case where a vehicle driver depresses a brake pedal during a zero vehicular velocity and the engine is automatically started in a case where the brake pedal depression is released to re-start the vehicle.